In a coup for downtown, BankOnBuffalo has decided to relocate its regional headquarters to the historic seventh floor of the landmark Electric Tower. Announcement of the new regional headquarters was made yesterday at a news conference in the former boardroom on the Electric Tower’s seventh floor. Approximately 15,000 square feet of space is being renovated and restored to when the electrical utility used it for local office operations.
“Since BankOnBuffalo was launched in 2016, we have received tremendous interest and support from the local business community. We are very excited to reciprocate by establishing our regional headquarters in downtown Buffalo,” said Martin T. Griffith, BankOnBuffalo president.
“At the same time, we are proud that the community will see the restoration of the historic seventh floor at the Electric Tower to accommodate the space and hiring demands that our headquarters decision will produce,” he said.
BankOnBuffalo began as a start-up division of CNB Bank with a loan origination office and in February 2017 opened a full-service bank branch on the first floor of the Electric Tower. Since then, BankOnBuffalo has opened full-service branches in Orchard Park and Williamsville, created a new private banking and wealth management service called BankOnBuffalo Investment Advisors, and applied to the banking regulatory agencies to establish its first Niagara County branch in Niagara Falls.
BankOnBuffalo has topped the $200 million mark in loans originated and has achieved its initial goal of hiring more than 30 individuals, all from the local market, to accommodate the bank’s customer growth.
For BankOnBuffalo, the seventh floor will provide executive offices, boardroom, commercial lender offices, private banking and wealth management offices and support staff. The floor will be fully operational by the fall. BankOnBuffalo will continue to operate its branch on the first floor.
lskalo Development purchased the office building in 2004 and completed a rehabilitation project in 2007. It held the seventh floor vacant waiting for a good fit for the space that would take the whole floor.